No 463 - Tuesday's Club Notes

The “Club Notes” for Tuesday, the 18th of March, 2025.

By Dwain Duxson - An Ag Enthusiast

Are Apprenticeships needed?

We wrote yesterday about how Mechanical Apprenticeships enrolments are down around 34 per cent in the last 12 months alone. This is a real risk for the Farm Machinery industry. It got me thinking: in order to keep the numbers of new Mechanics (Techs they call them now) coming into the industry, should we scrap the Apprenticeship model? There's a stigma around Apprenticeships. One, they are lowly paid, and young people can get higher-paid jobs elsewhere. Two, they take too long to complete. So, if we scrapped them, what would replace it? We could have people just gain experience on the job working for other Mechanics. I mean, you don't come out the other side with a ticket, but if you can fix the Tractor, then that's all that matters. When beggars can't be choosers, then everything is on the table. Besides, have you ever asked a Mechinaic to see their ticket? Our son could have done an apprenticeship with the company he works for but decided against it to be more of a generalist, and then he could work out what he wants to specialise in. After 5 years in the job, he gets paid very well, can do what an apprentice does and hasn't been pigeonholed to a particular trade. Win, win, I say. It's interesting how many young people are shying away from University, which is less of a worry when our Agricultural colleges are full, but when it's the service types industries that support Agriculture, then we have a problem. Do you think the Apprenticeship model is needed? Reply to [email protected] or 0427 011 900

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What’s in the paid section today:

Story 2 - Are we too negative,s and is there a place for infectious optimism?……

Story 3 - How do we keep injecting energy into our Farm businesses?…..

Number of articles and images - 71 small bits of valuable Farming and Ag info and news. This includes 22 ripper funnies and 5 just sayings.

Number of Farmer replies - 7 in total

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